Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Live Eagle Cam of the Raising of Two Eaglets

From the USDA:
In 2014, a pair of mated Bald Eagles chose the most idyllic of nest sites within the United States’ National Capital (Washington, DC), nestled high in a Tulip Poplar tree amongst the Azalea Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum, which is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture. This is the first Bald Eagle pair to nest in this location since 1947.
The first chick hatched "at 8:27 a.m. March 18, 2016 Eastern Daylight Time." The second chick "followed 2 days later, hatching March 20 at about 3:00 a.m. EDT."

The eagle cam has two views with infrared to allow viewing at night.
The light you see is an infrared light that the Eagles cannot see. To the eagles, the nest is dark at night. We've installed low power IR illumination devices that are 7-10 feet from the nest. They do not emit heat, dangerous radiation, or noise. A small chip inside the camera does the job of converting the IR image into visible light through tiny electric charges. Images coming from IR cams will be in monochrome since the chip does not detect color. Here's a link that may help to understand more about IR cams.
It's fun to watch though bad things can happen. The USDA warns:
This is a wild eagle nest and anything can happen. While we hope that two healthy juvenile eagles will end up fledging from the nest this summer, things like sibling rivalry, predators, and natural disaster can affect this eagle family and may be difficult to watch.
One of my screen shots:


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